That Day Years Ago
by Moon's Meow
Summary: Years had passed since the retired soldier had partaken on the gruesome and painful-to-remember events that had occurred on the space colony ARK. He has done his best to make his amends, though he still holds a heavy heart. One day, there comes the unexpected arrival of a frighteningly familiar face. The past has come to haunt him, all in the form of a black hedgehog.


That Day Years Ago

The smell of coffee and fresh flowers filled the air for the patrons sitting out in front of the small restaurant. Among the customers, an anthropomorphic, white bat sat by herself with a steaming cup before her. Her elbow rested on the table as her chin was held up by her gloved hand. She stared lazily at the bouquets laid out on the tables; her gaze scanned over the pink shades of cyclamen, which sat beside the occasional petunia among the pattern. All the while, white poppies contrasted with dark crimson roses, as mixed zinna and strips of fir completed the ensemble. Her eye then caught on a slight flicker of light, which came from the sunlight that bounced off of the necklace of a passing woman. After a second of keen observation, the bat pursed her gleaming lips judgmentally. She then looked away in disinterest. An alerting beep then went off on her person, and the bat responded by drawing out a phone-shaped device. She flipped it open and greeted casually, "Hello."

A man's militaristic response filled her broad ear, "Agent Rouge, have you arrived at the airport to depart for your mission?"

Leaning back in her chair and crossing one leg over the other, the bat glanced around as she answered, "Well, I'm currently seated at Café Souvenir in the western end of Station Square if that gives you enough of an update on my current position."

"What!" Rouge rolled her eyes as the voice over the phone sputtered in frustration, "At this rate, your mission will be delayed for another two hours. Agent Rouge, this is a direct violation of orders!"

With a sigh, she leaned forward to place her elbows on the table, and waved her hand as she explained, "Well, I can't exactly go anywhere when my partner's nowhere to be found."

"You lost track of Agent Shadow?"

"Give a girl credit for _trying_." Rouge looked at the sky, which was blue smeared with streaks of white, and responded, "He hasn't responded to my calls, probably turned off his communicator. I spent the last three hours trying to locate him, and the only thing that I could find was that he had accessed the G.U.N. database for some information yesterday."

Immediately, the military official asked, "What did he look at?"

"I'll save you the trouble of ringing up someone to dig through security if you'll hang up that other line," Rouge answered in a snide tone. She smirked as the phone begrudgingly went quiet. She went on, "Look, all he did was look up the names of some retired and deceased G.U.N. soldiers. I'm pretty it has to do with us passing through a cemetery last week. I made a comment about recognizing some names of past G.U.N. troops. I guess it got him to thinking. You know how he gets when he lets his thoughts stew for too long."

"…And you're sure that you have no indication of Shadow's current whereabouts?"

Rouge replied with a grin, "If I can't find him, I'd like to see you guys try." She added, "I understand that this whole thing is a pretty big inconvenience, but, believe me, once Shadow finally gets his thoughts sorted out, he'll come around and resume his work with just as much proficiency as before."

After a long moment, the military official stated, "Very well. We'll have you and Agent Shadow depart in the flight leaving at sixteen hundred hours. If Shadow has not contacted and regrouped with you within that time slot, then you will leave for the mission on your own. A search will also be implemented to locate Shadow and send him in after you, should you end up leaving without him with no update in communications. Is that understood, Agent Rouge?"

"Rodger that," she answered. Finally, the call ended, and she was able to shut the device with a click. Rouge looked thoughtfully into the still surface of her drink, which no longer steamed. She rested her chin in her palms as she murmured to herself, "I hope you get back soon. Whatever it is you're doing, I'm sure you wouldn't want G.U.N. sticking their nose in your business…" After a moment, she smiled bitter-sweetly and added, "I also wish that, for once, you'd actually let me in on whatever it is that's bothering you."

Rouge sighed once again, "Oh well." With the cloudy sky in her sights, she choose to sip from the lukewarm drink anyways.

Surrounded by lush green hills under a sunny day, a black-furred hedgehog walked along a grey road. He moved at a steady and purposeful pace. He seemed unaffected by the gentle wind and disconnected from the calming scenery. His red eyes simply stared ahead, intent on his goal. It wasn't long before he found himself following alongside a white picket fence, with more trees and bushes filling the area. Finally, he stopped and turned towards a one-story building bathed in sunlight, with elderly figures seated either in fenced lawn.

The hedgehog moved onto the porch of the retirement home. He knocked in business-like taps. After a moment, a brown-haired woman opened the door, pausing to look down at him. She blinked wordlessly in surprise. The hedgehog stated evenly, "My name is Shadow. I'm here to visit someone."

Five minutes later, Shadow was directed to a living room to wait as the brown-haired woman disappeared into another room. The elderly murmurs, mixed with the youthful voices of caretakers or other visitors, hummed in the air. He sat on the edge of a red armchair, staring off as he was lost in deep thought, arms crossed over his chest. Nearby, an elderly woman was shuffling past the chairs and paused upon noticing Shadow. She took a moment to examine him, squinting her eyes, before her face lit up in a smile.

"Why, if it isn't Sonic the Hedgehog!" the elderly woman greeted, breaking Shadow from his thoughts. He glanced around, seeing some others in the room look over curiously. He made a noise of annoyance as the woman went on cheerfully, "What brings an upstanding hero like yourself around here? Are you visiting someone?"

Shadow turned to the elderly woman, responding, "I'm not Sonic. I'm a different hedgehog."

"Hm?" The elderly woman blinked and re-examined him before replying, "Oh! My mistake, deary. You just looked so much like him."

Shadow muttered to himself sarcastically, "Yes, we're practically identical."

"Excuse me," came the voice of the brown-haired woman, causing Shadow to look back around. He was met with an apologetic look and the statement, "I'm sorry but he's not available right now. Perhaps you could visit another time?"

Shadow said nothing for a long moment. Frowning slightly, he replied, "Tell him it's urgent."

The brown-haired woman looked doubtful, but she still responded, "I'll let him know."

Shadow watched as the woman walked back across the room and through a door at the end. When she disappeared from view, Shadow got up and began to follow her. As he moved across the room, he received several greetings along the lines of, "Hi there, Sonic!" "How are you, Sonic?" Shadow scowled and walked through the door.

He found himself in a corridor, and he saw the woman four doors down the hall, facing a shut one to his left. Upon hearing a door open, she looked over, shocked to see Shadow standing in the doorway. The woman blurted, "What are you doing?" When he let the door shut behind him and started walking down the hall without a word, the woman nervously insisted, "I told you, he's not available right now."

Finally, Shadow responded coldly, a few feet away from the woman, "I'm fairly sure that he's _lying_."

Over the sound of a door creaking open, the woman started, "You can't just barge in-"

"Margret, it's fine," a new voice, the voice of an older man, spoke up. They looked over at the door, where a man dressed in a blue and white sweater vest, with tan pants, stood. Wrinkles were visible down his long face and across his exposed forehead. Dark blond hair made up his receding hair and thick eyebrows. He sternly looked at Shadow as he continued, "If there's one thing I don't want to be known as, it's a liar. Let him in."

Margret opened her mouth to say something, but her words caught in her throat. She glanced between the two, seeing the way that they stared at one another with unreadable looks. The air was filled with tension. The woman faltered and stepped back. The man pulled opened the door more and stepped aside, allowing room for entry. Shadow finally broke his gaze from the man's eyes and walked inside. The man looked to Margret and requested, "Allow us to talk in private."

She gave a single nod and then watched as he shut the door.

It was a simple living space inside the room. There was a clean bed, a night stand with a lamp, a doorway to a bathroom, and a chair beside the window, which had its white curtains drawn. Quietly, the man gestured to the chair and requested, "Please. Sit."

Shadow glanced at the man. He then moved across the small room and sat down. All the while, the man sat on the edge of the bed. The man rested his hands on his lap, tightly intertwining his fingers together, and stared at the floor. Shadow lightly held the arms of the chair and had his eyes settled on the man. There was a long silence between them. A clock on the wall ticked away.

The man then spoke up in a slow and choked tone, his gaze burning into the carpet, "So…you've come to…talk to me."

"Yes," Shadow simply stated. He maintained a near unblinking stare.

The man gritted his teeth uncomfortably and refused to lift his gaze. He gulped dryly before speaking, "I've heard…that you've been helping a lot of people. Joined G.U.N. even. It's…no wonder that you've found me." Shadow made no response. The man struggled to move his gaze from the floor and up to the wall. His chest felt tight, causing his breathing to feel shallow, only because he was nearly holding his breath. Feeling himself trembling, he forced his gaze onto Shadow, and then wrestled to meet those red eyes as he asked, "What do you want?"

Shadow stared back, his expression unreadable but his gaze unyielding. He answered, "I want to you to tell me what happened fifty years ago."

The man blinked and shakily responded, "What do you mean?"

Shadow narrowed his eyes and stated, "I want to hear you tell me exactly what you did on the ARK."

The man faltered slightly, sinking more into the bed as he looked off to the side and muttered, "I've already told the full story. You can easily find the news article that was made to preserve the memory. You could even get the information from G.U.N. directly."

"I would much rather hear it from you," Shadow snapped in a low voice.

The man flinched, feeling a rock drop down his gut. He glanced back at the hedgehog, who had rested his elbows on the armrests then intertwined his fingers so they obscured his mouth. This allowed his gaze to more effectively burrow into the elderly man as he silently waited. The man exhaled lightly and looked away again. His eyes settled back on the floor, the tension in his body slipping away into sorrow. He began, slowly, "The mission was simple. The ARK needed to be closed down due to an accident that had happened in the establishment."

The man continued, frowning, "We knew that it was an excuse for some other reason…but none of us had the guts to ask. We simply entered into the space base and followed our orders…We arrested Professor Gerald, researchers and anyone else we came across on the ARK…" He paused, very conscious of the hedgehog's gaze as he added, "At one point, I came across a young girl, who had been hiding while we were taking in researchers."

Shadow was silent. He remained still and waited for the man to go on.

The elderly man explained, "She ran from us, and we briefly lost sight of her. My squad and I then split up to search the area. I soon found her again, and…she was with you."

The man paused, taking a moment to inhale deeply. He went on, his voice growing increasingly choked, "You two bolted from me. I gave chase and shouted for the others as I ran. I…finally caught up when all three of us reached a dead end. A circular room with only one entrance. You were both in the center of the room…I remember telling you to freeze and put your hands up, when the girl suddenly bolted for the control panel. I pointed my gun at her out of caution, and I think you were about to lunge for me. That's when the capsule closed shut over you...I realized that it was an escaped pod. I shouted for her to step away from the control panel, but she was saying something to you…She wasn't listening. I…saw her hand move towards the launch button. I shouted again and knew I had to stop her, so I-…I had…I pulled the trigger."

The man's voice became strangled, and he struggled to continue, "I re-remember your scream. Then she…she said something else to you before ejecting the pod with her last…her last…afterwards, she…right in front of me…"

Finally, the man broke down, burying his face in his hands. He spoke in almost a cry, which he muffled with his hands, "I just-wanted her to move her hands. She was so young! I-" He looked up at Shadow, tears beginning to fill his eyes. The elderly man gave him a look of utter shame and dismay, as he whispered, "I'm so sorry."

The hedgehog said nothing and had turned his face away. Despairingly, the elderly man then lowered his head and buried his face in his hands. For a few, long minutes, the ticking clock was the only noise. Behind the white curtains, the sunlight briefly shifted as a cloud passed by. Finally, Shadow looked back up at the man.

"There's no need to apologize. Not at this point," he stated, causing the man to look back in confusion. The hedgehog's gaze was not as glaring as before, and, though his tone was even, it was softer as he continued, "What's done is done. Maria passed on a long time ago."

The man blinked quizzically, beginning to calm down. He listened as the hedgehog went on, staring into space, "When I discovered that you were the last of the soldiers that had gone up to the ARK, I will admit that I didn't have a clear goal in mind when deciding to find you. However, after speaking with you…I've realized how important it is that I'm here right now."

Shadow's red eyes then flicked over to the elderly man, and he stated, "We are the last to remember first-hand what happened fifty years ago. We both saw Maria's death. We both felt responsible. After losing her, I didn't mourn properly. My sense of loss turned into a destructive force. I became so twisted that I almost lost sight of my promise to Maria. I'm glad to have finally let go of revenge, but I am not proud of what I had done. I…don't want the same to happen to you." Shadow then spoke softly, "I ask that you let go of your remorse. Don't let it consume you to the point that harms yourself and others. It's time to move on," Shadow clasped his fingers together, thoughtfully lowering his gaze as he murmured, "and for us to forgive each other and be happy…"

The elderly man rose his eyebrows before shutting his eyes. After a moment, he let out a course laugh. With a bittersweet smile, the man replied, "We had heard all sorts of rumors about the professors' work…knowing that he was fiddling with things like eternal life and creating an ultimate life form, some of us feared that we would come across a monster…" He looked to Shadow, in both apology and thankfulness, and stated, "I couldn't be happier to have been wrong."

Shadow wasn't sure how to respond, so he looked to the window for a moment, seeing how the rays of sunlight filtered through the curtains. The hedgehog glanced back at the elderly man, stating, "Speaking of the professor's research…I've been working to get G.U.N. to revitalize Professor Gerald's true project, advancing medical research." Shadow glanced at his hands as he finished, "With any luck, this 'ultimate life form' can fulfill his purpose of providing cures for terminal illnesses like the one Maria had."

Shadow looked back at the elderly man and was surprised to see tears streaming down the latter's face. However, they were tears of relief. Smiling, the elderly man stated, "Ever since that day, I had lost faith in G.U.N. and my own ability to do good for the people. But, Shadow…you've renewed my hope, in all of that. I can't thank you enough."

At this, Shadow smiled lightly.

The sun had significantly lowered outside. The hedgehog was standing in the doorway at the front of the building, with Margret and the elderly man seeing him off.

"I'm glad that we were able to have this conversation," Shadow stated.

"Perhaps you can visit again sometime," Margret suggested.

The elderly man, however, scoffed, "I wouldn't hold my breath for something like that." With a grin, he added, "I'm sure you'll be plenty busy, if I'm remembering their workload right."

Grinning back, Shadow replied, as if accepting a challenge, "I certainly won't argue, but another visit doesn't sound like such a bad idea."

Continuing to smile, the elderly man extended his hand. Shadow accepted the handshake. With that, the hedgehog finally exited the porch and started back down the road.

Her drink had been reduced to only a few drops, with a receipt under the cup. Rouge glanced at her communicator, which showed no updates. She let out a tired sigh. Out of her line of sight, she could hear approaching footsteps, which she initially assumed to be the waiter's. By the time it occurred to her just familiar the footsteps were, a voice teased, "I never would've imagined that our superiors would pick this place for our rendezvous," Rouge turned around to face Shadow as he finished, "or are you just slacking off?"

Rouge responded with a start of disbelief, "_You're_ calling _me_ a slacker?" She scoffed, "You're the one that ran off right before a mission and now we're two hours behind schedule."

"Fair enough. I'm willing to accept responsibility for that. However…" As Rouge was leaving the payment alongside the receipt, Shadow continued, showing the message on his wrist communicator, "Don't you think it would've been more efficient to have me meet with you at the airport, as opposed to a café?"

Rouge shot him a pouting look. She strode over to him as she responded, "Well, maybe I was hoping to relax a little before we set off, but there's no time for it now. No thanks to you."

She then prodded him in the chest, insisting as she moved past him, "_You_ owe me a drink." She paused before adding, "And a meal. Just because you kept a lady waiting."

Shadow responded dismissively, "I'll worry about your trivial demands after we take care of our mission."

"Yeah, yeah, I get it. It's time to get back to work," Rouge sighed, waving off his words in turn. She paused then looked back with a smile, "It's nice to see you in such a good mood."

Shadow decided not to comment and walked past Rouge, who followed him with a grin. She then inquired, "What _were_ you up to anyways?"

"Tying up loose ends," he answered.

"Hmph. Vague as usual." Rouge then jumped into the air and used her wings to hover in the air beside Shadow as she stated, "But I know you'll open up to me one of these days."

Shadow smirked then replied, "You'd better be prepared to wait some more then."

At this, Rouge pouted and replied, "You just don't learn your lesson about keeping a girl waiting, do you?"

She settled back on the ground, ending up a few steps behind him. Rouge took a moment to look over Shadow thoughtfully, and her smile returned. She then caught up to his side as they continued down the streets, towards the airport.

* * *

**_Moon's Meow_: Just a brief Sonic snippet that was inspired by a plot thread in the Sonic X retelling of the Sonic Adventure 2's plot. In that, while Sonic and company are trading blows with Eggman in the ARK, two characters visited retirement home to talk with the retired G.U.N. that had been on the old ARK mission and was responsible for Maria's death. I thought it be interesting to write my interpretation on what would happen if Shadow and this guy met.**

**Some things of interest is the fact that the man's story is actually slightly tweaked from how it was in the show, since I tried to incorporate the various other portrayals of Maria's death as well. All in all, it was fun and heartfelt piece of writing. Honestly, the longest part of the process was trying to find meaningful flowers to put in the bouquet at the beginning, haha.**

**I hope you all have fun reading!**


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